Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that his government was committed to ending illegal mining and has therefore ordered e-tendering to end mafia raj and link mining sites with satellites so that one could kep a tab on operations with the click of a mouse.
“The state is bleeding because of illegal mining carried out during the previous regime. The situation was so bad that Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal (NGT) had to step in. The BJP Government is trying to restore parity,” Yogi said while intervening during the Question Hour at Vidhan Sabha on Friday.
While replying to a question of Parasnath Yadav (SP), Yogi said that his government has ordered that all mining contracts in future will be given through e-tendering. “The Government will use technology to monitor mining. Satellites will keep an eye on mining activities in the state,” Yogi said.
When the Opposition complained that the government decision had led to loss of revenue, the CM said that in May-June 2017-18, the Government has earned Rs 202.56 crore more as compared to the corresponding period in the last fiscal.
“This was possible because we have been able to stop leakages and introduced transparent system to check mining. There are some problems in western UP particularly in Saharanpur division because of an order from NGT. We will move an application to get a reprieve from there,” the CM said adding that after monsoons, the situation was likely to ease out.
Power:
The state Government clarified that it would not go for setting up additional thermal power plants as it had enough power available to supply quality power to consumers.
Power minister Shrikant Sharma said that the BJP Government was committed to supplying 24x7 power in district headquarters, 20 hours in tehsils and Bundelkhand and 18 hours in villages.
“We have enough power at our disposal and the government will not opt for setting up of new power plants in the state,” Sharma said addressing a question during Question Hour.
When asked by Opposition members, the minister said that at present the state has 18700 MW of power which was enough to meet public requirement